Cooling device



Oct. 26, 1937. P. A. CUSANELLI COOLING DEVICE Filed Sept. 1, 1936 2Sheets-Sheet l Fig- 470:.

Inventor a2 Attorney,

Oct. 26, 1937.

P. A. CUSANELLI COOLING DEVICE Filed Sept. 1, 1936 2 Sheds-Sheet g Fig8.

fig: 6.

WM A tlor ney Patented Oct. 26, 1937 UNITED STA-TES- COOLING DEVICE PaulArCusanelli, St. Louis, Mo., assignor of oneihalf .to Lorenzo Caudera,St. Louis, Mo.

7 Application September 1, 1936; Serial No. '98;91'5

3 Claims.

This invention relates to certain'new and useful improvements in coolingdevices for liquids, semi-solids and similar substances, thepeculiarities-ofwhich will be and claimed.

More-specifically invention has for. its main objectto provide means forlowering'the temperature of a liquid, -semi-solid,- or other substancein a receptacle, by the refrigerating action 0 ofice, chemicals-orother-refrigerant deposited in a container submerged at or near thecenter of said receptacle, said containerbe'ing of metal or othersuitable non-corrosive heat-conducting substance that will notcontaminatesaid liquid orsemi-so'lid substance nor be corroded thereby.

Anotherobject is to reduce the loss of insufficiently cooledliquid-drawn from' such "receptacle preliminary to withdrawing thecooled liquid.

Another object is to effect readily the recharging of the refrigerantcontainer.

Another object is to detachably secure the refrigerant container in thedesired position within said receptacle. V 1 Other objects andfeatures-of construction will appear and be described hereinafter. V

In accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals indicatecorresponding parts, Fig; 1 represents a top 'p'la'n'view of 'a barrel It as the receptacle for liquid contained thereinmnd -'one -fo-rm 'o'fnay-improvement applied-thereto;

Fig. 2, a verticalcentralsecti'onal 'elevation of Fig. 1 and showing theform of my refrigerant container as permanently applied to the barrel Ainthe-fac'tory where built; l I 3, aplan view of a 'cap for therefrigerant container;

Fig. 4, aside view of the same; I Fig. 5, a top view of the refrigerantcontainer shown in'Fig. 2; q 7 h Fig. 5a, a side view of the same;

'Fig. 6, a vertical central sectional elevation-sim- -llar to Fig. 2 ofthe receptacle,- with'my refrigerant container shown detachably mountedin the head'of the receptacle, and adapted'for application to a barrelas alreadybuflt; V V V Figil, a horizontal section of Fig. 6 on'the line1-1, looking upward;

Fig. -8, a detail "side view of the form of refr'igerant container shownin Fig. :6; and

Fig.9,a central vertical sectional elevation of 'a receptacle forice-cream 'or similar semi-solid substance, a cover therefon and asuitable refrigerant container removably secured in'central po--'si-t-ionin sa-i'dreceptacle. 7

Referring to the drawings the numeral I deshereinafter fully describedignates a receptacle for liquid, semi-solid -or other substance tobecooled within the receptacle; receptacle may be cylindrical;barrel-shaped as shown or other desired form, andmaybe closed forwithstanding the'outward pressure of beer or similar liquids storedtherein under pressure of gas or otherwise, such as a'beer barrel asillustrated,'from which the liquid may be drawn through a valvularoutlet 2 when sufficiently cooled by the action of my cooling deg 10vice. a

'My cooling device preferably consists 'of a tube 3 closed at the innerend, and having the other end provided with ascrew cap-4. This cappedend is securely mounted in the head =5, orlother 15 wall of-the barrelor other receptacle. Within thetube is deposited a refrigerant such asdry ice, chemicals -or other suitable refrigerant material. The walls ofsaid tube or other form of container forthe refrigerant, are preferablyof 20 a suitable metal, such as aluminum, which will readily conducttheheat of the liquidorother. substance being cooled through the wallsof'the' container under the refrigerating action of the V meltingice,-chemicals or other refrigerant ma- 25 terial with which thecontainer is charged.

For illustration of'my invention, the barrel shown in Figs. 1 and'2-i1lustrate the permanent form of attachment of theouter end of therefrigerant-container as mountedin the head of'i31) a barrel when saidbarrel is being built at the factory. The sealing flange linear; theouter end of the container is engaged with the inner face of the barrelhead 5, andfseal-ed'against the escape of liquid or air by the usualsealing 35 ring and fastening means for said flange; The end of. thetube beyond the flange is tightly swaged or otherwise secured in thehead 5.

The walls 3 of said container extend downward at or near the center ofthe receptacle'in the preferred location of the container as submergedin the liquid.

When desired to charge or recharge the container with the refrigerantsubstance, access is had to the container by removing the cap 4. The 4cap, may be screwed or otherwise secured in the outer end of thecontainer, so thatthe barrel or other receptacle may be readily handledand. transported, without danger of the refrigerant I escaping from itscontainer.

The barrel described is provided with the usual bung *l for filling thesame and any desired plugged inlet 8 for charging the barrel in theusual manner by which expansive pressure is "given to the liquidtherein. $5

When it is desired to apply my refrigerant container to a barrel orother receptacle already constructed, the outer end of the container ismodified by making the wide annular disc-flange 6' on the said end sothat it will bear upon the outer face of the barrel head. An upwardperipheral rim 9 at the edge of this flange forms a saucer andfacilitates turning it and guides the deposit of the refrigerant in thecontainer. Any suitable means for securing the sealing engagement ofsaid flange with the outer face of the head may be employed, such as bya wedge projection 8 extending from the side of the tube below the outerflange 6, and having its inclined upper face flrm- 1y engaged with theinner face of said barrel head by turning the container similar .to ascrew cap on a fruit jar. The wedge shape provides increased transversestrength to correspond to increased reaction of screw-like engagement.The

Wide annular disc-flange extends radially beyond and'cover's thenotches. f -To facilitate the mounting of this modified detachable formof container in a barrel head already built, such wedge-shapedprojection 8 is made in multiple, such as three and correspond toequally spaced portions of screw threads. These projections will passthrough openings 9 in the barrel head and be screwed into firm wedgingcontact with the inner face of the barrel head, as indicatedin'Figs. 6and '7, and draw the outer flange 6' tight against the head in sealingposition. Any suitable screw fastening or other means to preventbackward rotation of the wedge projections 8 may be employed. Referringagain to Figs. 6, 7 and 8 it will be seen that the ice tube 3 can bequickly removed from the opening in the head of the keg to allowcleaning the keg. This opening also facilitates spraying pitch to linethe barrel before putting the beer in it; this is much better than theusual practice of spraying the inside of the barrel through thebunghole.

' This desired detachability is secured in my construction by thescrew-wedging action of the inclined upper faces of the projections 8which are like spaced portions of screw threads; and such radial lateralprojections as shown being on the outer surface of the tube 3 adjacentthe flange, by engaging the under side of the head or otherwise,'willact to draw down the upper flange 6' upon a washer or other sealingmeans between said flange'and the top of the head. Also the rim 9' onthe flange 6, affords leverage in turning the tube into and out of screwengagement,

and guides the ice being placed in the tube 3. This rim and'i lange arelocated below the top ends of the barrel staves so'that they areprotected thereby from damage or dislodgment when transporting thebarrel. The tube with its lateral projections spaced inward from theflange, the outer end flange and its peripheral rim, are integrally castor otherwise formed in one piece; the screw-threaded rotaryaction isobtained by any suitable means such as a spanner wrench engaging theflange in order to screw it tightly against a sealing washer or othermeans to pre vent leakage. I

Other means than the openings 9 for the passage downward of thewedge-shaped projections 8 similar to portions of screw threads, may beused, and His evident that the cooling tube 3 can be quickly placed inposition in the barrel, or removed therefrom, by rotating the same intoand out of its sealing position.

Leaks sometimes occur in a barrel or keg, and another advantage of myopening in the head of the same is to facilitate access to the insidefor repairing said leak or leaks between the joints of the staves whichevidently must be done from the inside, on account of the outwardpressure of the charging gas. Also my detachable constructionfacilitates washing the beer keg after use and before refilling.

The receptacle for the material to be cooled by my device may be closedand resistant to internal pressure as described in the application of mydevice to a beer barrel; in the use of my cooling device for othermaterial, such as ice- 'cream, the receptacle may be similar to thatshownin Fig. 9 in which the receptacle l' is provided with a suitableremovable cover ID to protect the contents and give ready accessthereto.

In this exemplification, I prefer to make the tubular container 3secured in its central position by a screw fastening such as a stud l lforming the screw connection between the bottom H of 1 the receptacle Iand the bottom end [3- of the refrigerant container, other suitablesubstance to be cooled is thus sub-c ject to the cooling action of therefrigerant in the container submerged therein.

1 For recharging the container 3', the cap 4' may be removed; or ifdesired the container may be unscrewed from its screw connection. withthe bottomof the receptacle, and removed from the receptacle forcleaning, recharging, or any other reason. 1

I: do not confine myself to the construction hereinshown and describedexcept by the appended claims.

- By mydevice the usual cooling coil between the barrel and the servicepoint is done away with. The cooled liquid is drawn directly from thebarrel and does not suffer contamination from the usual contact with themetal of the cooling coil.- In my device the cooled liquid suffersnodelay in reaching the service point and avoids contamination and thecooled liquid is delivered directly to the customer. The usual coolingcoil is unsanitary and expensive; my device also avoids the usual wasteof beer which has to be drawn from the coil after it has been thereseveralhours and this waste is avoided in my device as I draw itdirectly in its cooled condition from the barrel.

Having fully described my invention whatI claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In combination, a beer keg having an open ing in one head, and acooling device detachably disposed therein and comprising a closedrefrigerant tube characterized by an end flange bearing on the outerface of the head in sealing position, and having an upwardly extendingperipheral rim thereon, and wedging means carried by said effect sealingengagement of flange and head, said rim affording leverage for therotary wedging action and a guide for directing the refrigerant materialbeing deposited into said tube.

2. A cooling device having a refrigerant container cast or formedintegrally in one piece and consisting of a tube permanently closed atone end and characterized by a wide annular disc-flange at the other endextending radially beyond lateral radial projections having inclinedbearing surfaces spaced from the flange and spaced apart around theoutside of the tube,

substantially as described.

tube and rotatably engaging said head to 7 The ice-cream or detachablydisposed in said opening and comprising a closed refrigerant tube havingan end tion to pass through said notches during insertion of the tube,each of said projections being wedge-shaped in cross-section and bearingagainst the inner wall of the head upon rotation of the tube relativethereto for securing the tube 5 to the head. 7

PAUL A. CUSANELLI.

